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Recently, as of three weeks ago, I took a new position back in the marketing arena. You can read more about this over at Bike Shop Girl but the most important thing for you all to know is changes are being made across all the sites that will benefit you, the reader, the most. Hence the lack of posting.

The thing that pertains to Commute By Bike the most, my commute through life, has changed a great deal. What was once a 4 mile bike ride in the suburbs to work in shorts and a tshirt, is now a 27 mile commute to the big city of Charlotte from the suburbs.

You may find this strange but I enjoy this new mini-adventure everyday. Being able to go into the city during the week has added a bit of excitement to my suburbia life. I am enjoying seeing friends and messengers that work in town, wearing business attire and being part of the well oiled machine.

One of the other reasons I’m so excited about my commute is for this site. I will have much more commuter tid bits and tips from current, everyday, real life. As a bike commuter for 13 years, I know how to get from one place to another pretty efficiently but there are always going to be issues and concerns that come up day to day.

Day to Day Commute

On any given day, my commute changes due to meetings, football practice or work deadlines. All mornings I take the Express bus from Davidson, NC to Charlotte, NC. From the heart of the Charlotte I hop on the train for 2 stops and walk/pedal 3 blocks to my office. Some days I’ll bring my bicycle with me to be able to get around town at lunch or to make the 27.27 mile commute home from door to door. Other days I’ll ride the bus home, or carpool with a friend if our schedule works out.

Things Will Change

As daylight gets shorter I most likely will take a step back and not ride the whole route home from work. Take the bus to Davidson and ride the 5.5 miles home. There are thoughts of joining the YMCA that is a block away from work so that I can ride in to work, shower and change at the YMCA. That may happen in the winter when it isn’t so hot.

A New Adventure

My daily commute probably isn’t for someone that needs to have a concrete schedule, or pinched on time. I spend about 1.5-2 hours a day commuting in one form or another. I leave the house at 6:45 and get home about the same time. For me, I enjoy the adventure and change of pace. I’m typing this blog post sitting on the bus on the way to work, and I’ll probably work on another article for Bike Shop Girl tonight. The other things i do is people watch, listen to a whole host of podcast or slowly I am becoming more comfortable reading without feeling sick.

Here’s to a new adventure and expanding the websites further than any of us knew!

4 Responses to “Tri Modal Bicycle Commute”

Welcome to my world! I take my folding Dahon on a bus across the Hudson River to a train. The train goes to Grand Central in NYC and from there I ride my bike about 6 miles to my office at Battery Park. Door to door is nearly 2 hours.

I also have to fit my commuting around my schedule and especially any even appointments. My commute is 18.5 miles each way along rural but high speed road in Arizona. So my 30 minute ride into work become an hour and tem minutes in the morning and an hour and thirty minutes going home. The extra time to get home is because it’s more uphill heading home and the difference on morning to late afternoon temps.

I love my bike commute and how it’s helped my health and peace of mind I get while biking.

It’s interesting to listen to the travel times and varied means by which you all use to get to work. For myself, I live in a small Southeast Alaska town with a commute of only 1/2 mile if I take it direct. I choose to take the long way (3 mi) just to get a bit of bike time in – it makes all the difference in the world to my mental health to get in a bit of spinning.

This post made me wonder what my perfect commute would be. At present, my 3 mile one way is not enough. I’m thinking 6 miles would be the ticket. But then, I’m wondering if it’s the actual pedaling of my commute that I enjoy so much, or could it be the “adventure and change of pace” you mentioned. Maybe it’s something else for me that I can’t put my finger on yet.